Ponponio (also known as Pomponio and Lupegeyun, c. 1799 – 1824), was the leader of a band of Native American fugitives in California who called themselves ''Los Insurgentes'' and who rebelled against Mexican rule and the mission system in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Under his organization they raided settlements between the areas of modern-day Sonoma and Soledad in the early 19th century.

Pomponio State Beach Pomponio State Beach is a state beach of California in the United States. It is located south of Half Moon Bay off California State Route 1. This coastal strip lies between Pescadero and San Gregorio State Beaches. It is made up of several m ...

, Pomponio Creek, south of San Gregorio, and the Pomponio Trail in Pescadero Creek Park,

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

, were named for him.Brown 1975.

Early years

Ponponio was a

Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Point ...

from the Guaulen local tribe area of present-day

Bolinas Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...

according to sources that reference the early Franciscan mission records.Jackson 1995 He was born to Francisco (Tabal iu) and Antonia (Juniela) about 1799 with the native name ''Lupegeyun'' (or '' pugeyun''). He was baptized at the

Mission Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1803, and given the Spanish name "Ponponio". The mission recorder noted he was about four years old ("como 4"), when he was baptized. The mission records spell his name ''Ponponio''. Later historians such as Hurt spell it ''Pomponio''.Hurt 2002:74 By legend Ponponio was also rumored to be "the bravest and most fearsome of the

Cainameros The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small grou ...

tribe" which was a reference to the

Southern Pomo Southern Pomo is one of seven mutually unintelligible Pomoan languages which were formerly spoken and is currently spoken by the Pomo people in Northern California along the Russian River and Clear Lake. The Pomo languages have been grouped to ...

of present-day

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

. Another non-mission source identifies him as an

Ohlone The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...

from south of the Golden Gate, although this seems a legend without supporting documentation. He may have at some time served the

Mission San Rafael Arcángel Mission San Rafael Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1817 as a medical '' asistencia'' ("sub-mission") of Mission San Francisco de Asís. It was a hospital to treat sick Native Americans, making it Alta ...

as an

alcade Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

Rebel years

Ponponio fled the mission and began raids against scattered ranches and missions about 1818. In the summer of 1823, his main camp was somewhere in the area of present-day Upper Alpine Road, San Mateo County. A cave "once called Ponponio's Cave" at the headwaters of Pomponio Creek, near Devils Canyon Falls, was said to have been his headquarters. Originally, much of Ponponio's legend was assembled from unreliable, anecdotal sources. One romantic, fictionalized account of his life has Ponponio cutting off his own heels to escape from captivity. The origin of this story may be that a lieutenant of Ponponio's band, one Gonzalo from

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

, was captured and put in irons, and was reported to have cut off both heels to escape. The historical account continues saying that after a career as a robber, Gonzalo asked Ponponio to bring a priest to make his dying confession. Rather than have a priest hear anything not to his (Ponponio's) benefit, Ponponio ran him through with a lance. Ponponio gave similar treatment to another of his lieutenants named Baltasar. Ponponio raided far from his home vicinity of the Pescadero and San Gregorio Creeks. He was captured by a party of four soldiers near San Rafael and tried by court martial in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

, and shot on February 6, 1824.Bancroft 1886,Vol. II:537-38. The mission records also note this "Alcabuc ron...por sentencia de un consejo de Guerra formado en el mismo Presidio." hey warmed by sentence of a war council formed in the same Presidio.ref name="missionrecord" />

Notes

References

* * *Brown, Alan K. ''Indians of San Mateo County'', in ''La Peninsula:Journal of the San Mateo County Historical Association'', Vol. XVII No. 4, Winter 1973-1974. *Brown, Alan K. ''Place Names of San Mateo County'', San Mateo County Historical Association, 1975. *Brown, Alan K. ''Pomponio's World'', in ''Argonaut'', ''(San Francisco Westerners)'', no. 6, San Francisco, May 1975. *California Coastal Commission, Madge Caughman, and Joanne S. Ginsberg, ''California Coastal Resource Guide,'' University of California Press, 1987. , page 17

* *The Huntington Library, ''Early California Population Project Database'', 200

*Jackson, Robert. ''Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish colonization'', University of New Mexico Press, 1995, page 18

*Hurt, ''The Indian frontier, 1763-1846'', UNM Press, 2002, , p. 74 *Laws, David A. ''Coastside: Exploring the Ocean Side of the San Francisco Peninsula'', Windy Hill, 2004, , page 8 [] * * Sánchez, Rosaura. ''Telling Identities: the Californio Testimonios'', University of Minnesota Press, 1995, , page 155.

Early years

Rebel years

Notes

References

Further reading